Cigarette smuggling and fake designer goods will top the agenda when Europe’s Anti-Fraud Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta meets Chinese officials in Shanghai this week. The commissioner told EurActiv the EU has an “enormous problem” with illegal goods entering the European market from China.

Šemeta said the European Commission is investing considerable resources in tackling cigarette smuggling, an illegal racket typically used to fund criminal gangs. He said Chinese authorities have raided thousands of factories and customs authorities have seized millions of counterfeit cigarettes.

“We still have an enormous problem when it comes to cheap and illegal products entering the EU from China. In fact, China accounted for about 60% of all products suspected of infringing IPR [intellectual property rights] which were detained by customs last year. That is why I have put this point high on the agenda for my discussions in Shanghai,” said Šemeta.

He said it is in China’s interest to show it takes counterfeiting and piracy seriously. “This is the only way to increase global trust in Chinese products and to protect their own companies that play by the rules,” he said, adding that Chinese brands are now becoming the latest victims of bootleggers.

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